Chapter 14 – Iris Midgar

Claire Kageno sat in a chair, her hands tied behind her back as she was interrogated by Princess Iris Midgar in her office. The red-haired princess stood tall and imposing in front of her, her piercing gaze locked onto Claire.

"Why did you try to attack us, Claire?" Iris asked, her voice cold and commanding.

"Because you tortured my brother!" Claire spat back, her eyes flashing with anger.

"I did what was necessary to find my sister," Iris replied firmly. "Your brother was a suspect in her abduction, and we needed to know what he knew."

"He didn't know anything!" Claire protested. "He's just a kid who got caught up in all of this!"

Iris's expression softened slightly, realizing that Claire too also cared deeply for her younger sibling just like herself but her tone still remained firm. "I understand that Claire, but we had to investigate all possible leads. Your brother is safe now, and we will not harm him further."

Claire slumped back in her chair, her anger deflating slightly. "I just...I couldn't bear to see him hurt anymore," she said quietly.

"I understand," Iris said, her voice gentler now. "But attacking here was not the solution. We need to work together to find my sister and bring her home safely."

Claire nodded, her eyes downcast. "I know. I'm sorry for what I did. I just...I couldn't control myself."

"I forgive you, Claire," Iris said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "But you need to learn to control your emotions, especially in times of crisis. We're all on the same side here, fighting for the safety of our kingdom and our loved ones."

Claire nodded again, her eyes meeting Iris's. "I understand, First Princess. I'll do better."

"Good," Iris said, smiling slightly, and walked back to her chair behind the desk.

As Claire was looking anxiously at Iris with her hands still tied behind her back. Iris leaned forward on her desk and put her hands under her chin. After silently looking at the setting sun through the window, her red eyes then focused back on Claire on the chair.

She said in a serious voice.

"Lastly, I heard you didn't attack alone. Is that true?"

Claire hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to reveal the identity of the man who had helped her rescue Cid. But she knew that keeping secrets would only make things worse, so she took a deep breath and answered truthfully.

"I… don't know."

Iris frowned, realizing that Claire was lying. "You don't know? Or you don't want to tell me?"

Claire shifted uncomfortably in her seat, feeling trapped. "I really don't know," she repeated.

Iris narrowed her eyes, studying Claire's face carefully. She knew that Claire was hiding something, but she also knew that pushing too hard could cause her to shut down completely. She decided to take a different approach.

"Look, Claire, I understand that you're trying to protect someone," Iris said, her voice softening. "But we need to work together to bring my sister back. I promise that whoever helped you won't be punished if they come forward and help us find her."

Claire bit her lip, her mind racing. She knew that she needed to tell Iris something, even though she knows nothing about the identity of the man.

Finally, she took a deep breath and spoke. "It was...a tall black-haired man. I don't know his name, but I think he's… a senior f-friend of Cid? He helped me rescue him from your guards. And then… Umm, he disappeared afterward."

"What…?"

Iris's eyes widened in surprise. She knew exactly who the man was, for he had already introduced himself to her knights who stood guard at the entrance. She was just testing Claire to hear it directly from her mouth before letting her free.

Her mind raced as she processed the information. So, Claire didn't know that the man who helped her was her own brother, Anos Kageno. Iris couldn't believe it. How could Claire not know about her own flesh and blood?

Anos was the youngest child of the Baron of the Kageno family and the younger brother of both Claire and Cid. Iris couldn't help but feel puzzled at how Claire could be so oblivious to her own family ties.

No, that's nonsense.

She was lying.

So blatantly at that.

"You dare–!"

Iris stopped herself from lashing out impulsively and took a deep breath as she tried hard to compose herself, not wanting to hurt Claire. She needed to handle the situation peacefully.

"Claire Kageno."

Claire flinched at the cold tone of the first princess as she nervously replied. "Y-Yes?"

"In case you didn't know, lying to the royal family is a grave offense that carries the immediate punishment of death."

"No! I'm not lying! I really–!"

"Enough!"

Baam.

Iris shouted enraged and hit the desk in front of her with her gloved fist. Under her immense physical power, the expensive furniture easily snapped into two as Claire jolted with a fearful expression on her face.

"Claire Kageno" Iris said darkly, her expression filled with fury, as a menacing red aura began to emanate from her body.

"...Yes." Claire replied meekly, tears welling up in her eyes as she felt trapped and humiliated.

"I shall give you one last chance."

Iris stood from her chair and put her hand on the handle of her sword.

"Who was that man with you?"

She said solemnly as she glared down at the pale Claire.

"..."

"..."

Silence.

"...It's a shame," Iris muttered as she slowly drew her sword.

"I, Iris Midgar. The first princess and heir to the throne. To Claire Kageno of the Baron Kageno family, At this moment…"

Claire's face slowly descended into despair with every word that came from Iris's mouth.

"I hereby condemn–"

*Knock* *Knock*

But before she could finish, there was a knock at the door. Iris frowned and looked toward it while saying. "What is it?"

"I-Iris-sama. U-Umm. T-The second princess is–!"

As the knight was talking anxiously from behind the door, a new voice sounded from there.

"Out of my way."

Iris raised her brow at the unfamiliar arrogant voice and Claire's ears perked up instead. As if recognizing it.

"What?! How dare you!"

"Who the hell are you?!"

"Why are you with the princess?!"

At the sound of many swords being drawn, Iris frowned and was about to move to the door before something shocking happened.

"Know your place. Humans."

Crash. Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish.

"----?!"

"?!"

Claire and Iris widened their eyes in astonishment as several blurs zipped through the air, barely visible due to their incredible speed. The pair were unable to respond in time, such was the velocity of the movement.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and a formidable force hurled the knights into the room, slamming them into the wall with great force. The soldiers groaned in agony as they struggled to regain their footing before all of them dropped unconscious.

As the dust settled, Iris could see a tall figure standing in the doorway. It was a man, dressed in a white outfit, a black belt, and a metal chain around his waist.

"Who are you? How dare you attack my knights!" Iris demanded, pointing her sword at the unknown man.

The man chuckled, and his voice was like a hiss. "Your knights? They were nothing but pathetic ants in my path. As for who I am, you are not worthy to know that. Insignificant human."

Claire gasped, recognizing the man that was casually walking towards them. "It's you?!"

When the man turned his dark-crimson eyes to Claire that was tied to a chair, he abruptly stopped and his expression changed dramatically.

At that moment, another two girls appeared from behind him.

When Iris saw one of them, all of her anger disappeared and she immediately sprinted toward her.

"Alexia?!"

Dismissing the man, Iris brushed past him with little regard, hurrying towards the girl. Oblivious to the terrifying, glowing eyes that bore down on her from the side. The action she just took made it seem as though the man didn't even exist, which was extremely insulting to the point that caused the man's already-in-the-clouds anger to reach unprecedented levels.

Alexia looked at her and smiled, relief evident in her eyes. "Onee-sama–Omph!"

Iris embraced her sister tightly, her heart racing with worry and relief. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"..."

The man slowly shifted his focus from Iris to Claire and then calmly closed his eyes and stood still, lost in deep contemplation for a short while. It appeared as though he was merely deeply pondering a matter. However. During this moment, the air in the atmosphere of the entire continent ceased to move, and every magical particle on the planet became frozen in space. It was an indication that a spell of an unprecedented scale in existence was about to be cast.

Despite that, because of the sheer colossal global magnitude of the magic. Unless someone attempted to use mana at that exact moment, no one would have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Tremble. Tremble.

"Huh?" Millia blurted out confused as she suddenly felt the whole world around her shake uncontrollably.

Bzzzzz. Rzzzzzz. Sssssssssssssssss!

The trembling quickly soared without notice and her vision instantly turned blurry as she now found herself standing in the midst of a sea of vibrating white invisible dots. She got goosebumps all over her entire body as an ancient and instinctive primal fear overtook her fragile unconscious mind.

Millia felt soul-crushing terror as her body began to violently hyperventilate involuntarily, leaving her unable to breathe, speak, move, or even blink. Her very soul resonated with the collapsing reality around her.

Only she, who has already transcended the limitations of human senses could feel it. The heralding of the true Ragnarok. The start of the era of unforgiving darkness and absolute destruction.

Not aware of the impending existential horrifying calamity, Alexia pushed the worried Iris away and shook her head. Her silver hair glinted in the light. "Don't worry Onee-sama, I'm fine now."

"Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure you're not hurt somewhere?!"

"Ugh! You're persistent–"

After a brief moment of hearing the quarreling sisters behind him, the man appeared to come to a resolution. He loosened his tense shoulders and reopened his eyes. At the same time, the mana in the world was released and everything returned back to normal. Allowing the hyperventilating Millia to finally breathe normally again.

"I seem to have become unexpectedly soft."

The man muttered emotionlessly to himself as he gazed at his seemingly clean hands. However, he saw them stained with the blood of untold and innumerable amount of creatures that had perished under his hands throughout history.

"Is it due to the peace of this era, or has my weak body influenced me? Is this the outcome of my and Hero Kanon's endeavors?"

Claire was taken aback by the strange words coming from the man as she found herself staring blankly at his face. Now that she looked at him clearly…

Despite her reluctance to admit it, she couldn't help but think that he was incredibly attractive.

'Huh?! Why is he coming here?'

Claire thought confused as she noticed that the man was now walking directly towards her.

"W-What do you want?"

She said anxiously as he stood in front of her. The sight of him effortlessly defeating so many knights before and the fact that she was currently tied to a chair made her incredibly nervous.

"..."

When he silently moved his hand towards her, Claire flinched and tightly closed her eyes in fear.

"...?"

However, instead of inflicting her harm, she felt the rope around her wrists loosen as the man skillfully untied the knots. He then reached out his hand to help her up from the chair.

Claire hesitated at first but then decided to take his hand, feeling a strange sense of trust in him despite her fear. As he pulled her up, she stumbled slightly, but he caught her easily and steadied her.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a gentle voice, completely different from the arrogant and overbearing tone he used before.

Claire looked up at him, her heart racing, and nodded meekly in response. This was the first time a man near her age had treated her in such a gentle manner.

As soon as the man caught Claire's intense gaze, he responded with a knowing smile. His devilishly attractive appearance sent shivers down her spine, making her quiver uncontrollably like a cicada, and her cheeks flush with a bright crimson hue.

Without conscious thought, her body moved mechanically towards the open window, as if trying to escape from something.

"Y-Yes, I need to check on Cid!" she exclaimed hysterically, before jumping out of the window.

As soon as she landed on the ground, she sprinted away at full speed, shouting "Y-Your sister is coming for you!" before disappearing into the street.

Anos smirked at his sister's cute behavior, he will tease her a little bit more in the future before he disclosed his true identity to her. He was immensely relieved that she was pretty easy to read unlike the anomaly known as his human brother Cid.

"..."

As Anos turned to Iris and Alexia who were still chatting. He noticed the restless Millia standing awkwardly close to them and called out to her.

"Millia, come here," he said.

"Y-Yes, Anos-sama!" Millia's expression brightened as she quickly moved to stand behind Anos, as if she had been waiting for his call for all eternity.

"Anos?" Iris, who was speaking with Alexia, heard Millia mention his name and turned her red eyes towards him.

"Are you Anos Kageno?" she asked, moving her hand towards her sword and standing protectively in front of Alexia.

Anos was annoyed and corrected her. "It's Anos Voldigoad."

Ignoring his words, Iris continued, "Anos Kageno, explain--"

"It's Anos Voldigoad," Anos interrupted.

Iris frowned at the interruption and continued, "Anos Kageno, what is--"

"It's Anos Voldigoad," Anos corrected her again. Iris was infuriated by the constant interruption.

"Anos Kag--"

"It's Anos Voldigoad."

"ENOUGH!" Iris shouted in rage, and a massive aura of red energy exploded from her body, startling both Alexia and Millia. However, Anos merely sneered at her.

"Hmph. It's Anos Voldigoad. You better remember that, insignificant human," he said.

Iris seethed with anger, her eyes blazing red as she glared at Anos. "How dare you speak to me like that, are you rebelling against the royal family? You're just a mere third-born child of a Baron, " she spat.

Anos smirked. "I speak to you the way you deserve to be spoken to, human. To me, you could be a God and it would make no difference."

"What a presumptuous bastard!"

Alexia stepped forward nervously, her expression incredibly anxious "O-Onee-sama, please calm down. I-I told you he's the one who saved me. We're not here to fight," she said, placing a hand on Iris's shoulder.

Iris took a deep breath and slowly let it out, her aura dissipating. "Fine," she said, glaring daggers at Anos. "But mark my words, third-born child of a Baron. I'll be watching you."

Anos laughed mockingly. "Do as you please, human. I couldn't care less." He turned to Millia. "Come, Millia. Let's go."

Millia nodded and followed behind Anos, casting a hesitant glance back at Iris and Alexia before they disappeared into a strange magic circle in the ground. Iris gritted her teeth, her fists clenched in frustration.

"Gatom."

She was so lost in rage that she didn't even register the impossible magic that Anos had just cast.

"I don't trust him," she said to Alexia.

"I know," Alexia replied. "But we have to be careful. Anos Voldigoad is not to be underestimated…–!"

As Alexia was speaking, she suddenly remembered something and immediately grabbed Iris by her shoulders.

"W-Wait a minute!"

"Eh?" Iris was bewildered as she looked at the wide-eyed Alexia.

"Did you just say Kageno?! That Pochi's family?!"